Everyday thoughts of the girl next door.

I will not forget.

The CWG opening ceremony was good and all and I am thrilled. BUT are we forgetting the crores of rupees Kalmadi and Co have swindled out of taxpayers?

It seems like everyone is rejoicing over Facebook, Twitter, news media and elsewhere about how Kalmadi and India have had their revenge and how we cocked a nose at the world. But pray tell me, have you forgotten the bloated budget? So you get a piece of candy and you forget that the person who gave you the candy actually stole money from you in the first place?

News media, which was going berserk over the money being wasted and over how bad the status of the Games Village was is now singing Kalmadi’s praises. One went so far as to say that Kalmadi had the last laugh? I agree. The very fact that no one will now ask him to be accountable for all the money spent means that Kalmadi has had the last laugh! How come our media is so aaya ram gaya ram? Whenever there is a story breaking out, everyone jumps on it. As soon as it becomes even a little lukewarm, even though the issue hasn’t been addressed yet, they jump to the next big story. Which in this case happens to be the opening ceremony.

How come we have such short attention spans? Collectively, it seems like we all suffer from Attention Deficit Disorder. We make noise, and rightfully so, about taxpayer money being misused, and they swing a balloon over our heads and we start jumping with delight? Really, who needs a billion dollar hot air balloon when they could have cut down on the budget by that much amount? And how many people are going to remember that? All this Indian pride and chest thumping seems like a bunch of hot air from the said balloon. I might sound like a traitor, and criticize me all you want, but I am going to keep making a noise and reminding people in my social circle about the initial budget of $364.5 million vs the actual $2.6 billion. Enough said!

Totally agree Shilpa. I’ll give the opening ceremony and even the balloon it’s due… but that does not excuse the inefficiency, the missed deadlines and the overspeding. If Indians can be fobbed off so easily, it’s no wonder that our infrastructure is in a terrible state… it’s like people are desperate to retain their pride, at their own cost. And I’m still reading about things going wrong – the boxers being weighed wrongly, athletes falling ill possibly due to the swimming pool water… How come we never hear this kind of stuff when these events are organised in other countries?

True! I did not know about the swimmers story. There was another scandal about how track and field start times were fudged! Why should we accept this incompetence? Seems like most people have forgotten the budget fiasco already and Kalmadi is making tall claims like he is working for India blah blah.